46 DAIRY FARMING 



the animals in the better group produced 115 pounds more 

 fat each. 1 Reports from the Southern States for 719 cows, 

 covering in each case a full year, show that for each $1.00 

 invested in feed the best 10 cows gave returns of $2.20, while 

 the poorest 10 cows barely returned the value of the feed. 

 The best 30 cows produced three and a half times as much as 

 the poorest animals. 2 



In the University of Missouri herd one pure-bred Jersey 

 averaged 480 pounds of fat per year for three years, while 

 her half sister averaged 114 pounds for the same period. 

 A test of 18 Illinois herds, including 226 cows, showed the 

 best herd to average 389 pounds of fat and the poorest 142. 3 



38. The High-producing Cows More Economical Pro- 

 ducers. A striking fact brought out by all such figures is that 

 the high producers will give a greater return from the same 

 amount of feed. It costs from $10 to $15 more per year to 

 feed the cow that produces 350 pounds of fat than it costs to 

 feed the cow that yields 200 pounds. It is a common mis- 

 take to assume that it costs no more to feed a cow producing 

 10,000 pounds of milk per year than it does to feed one yielding 

 5000 pounds of milk of the same quality. The larger producer 

 must use more feed, but not double that used by the smaller. 

 The former will use about 25 per cent more feed than the 

 latter, while the production of milk is 100 per cent more. 

 In many herds that have not been carefully culled, a greater 

 total profit might be realized by retaining one-half to two- 

 thirds of the herd and disposing of the inferior cows, but a 

 still better return may come from replacing the poor cows 

 by good ones. 



1 Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station, Bulletin 29. 



2 U. S. Dept. Agr., Bureau of .Vnimal Industry, 25th Annual Report, p. 67. 



3 Illinois Agricultural Experiment Station, Circular 102. 



